Newgarden wins IndyCar race, but rookie Malukas is the real star as runner-up
Editor's note: Full race results and driver standings are at the end of this story.
The closing laps of Saturday night’s IndyCar race at Gateway were a tale of two drivers.
After a lengthy two-hour red flag due to rain, Team Penske veteran Josef Newgarden held off rookie David Mulaukas to win for the third consecutive time at Gateway.
Newgarden’s win was his career-high fifth of the season and he now sits a mere three points behind teammate Will Power for the championship lead with two races remaining in the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series campaign.
Right before the rain delay, Newgarden lost the race lead to teammate Scott McLaughlin on Lap 218.
However, once the race resumed, Newgarden was able to blow past his teammate to take the lead and eventually the win.
“All I can say is that this 2 car crew has been very patient with me,” Newgarden said after the race. “I’ve lost my cool probably a couple of time in closed doors just out of frustration for us.
"I feel like we’ve had small miscues timing-wise. That’s not really anybody’s fault. Sometimes you’re wrong time, wrong place. I feel like it’s been happening a lot this year. It kind of happened again tonight. I felt like we were in position and it was time to close. There was a barrier that got in front of us again.
“But fortunately we were able to get back out. I was so happy we could finish this race. Scott McLaughlin, he wanted to win too and I love that about us. We have a good relationship obviously. Each of us want to win but we he drove me super-fair there at the end, and we had a good fight.”
Josef Newgarden celebrates his win on the podium with 3rd-place finisher and Team Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin following Saturday's NTT IndyCar Series Bommarito Automotive Group 500 race at World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis. (Photo by Michael L. Levitt/LAT for Chevy Racing)
While McLauglin may have wanted the lead, he wouldn’t even be able to settle for second, as Malukas passed him for the runner-up spot on the final lap. The 20-year-old Dale Coyne Racing rookie restarted the race in fifth and by utilizing fresher tires, was able to move further towards the front of the pack.
Malukas’ second-place finish was his first podium in IndyCar. Even he was surprised by his finish.
“So Ross (Bunnell), my engineer, he said, ‘You see the leaders, go get 'em,’” Malukas said. “I saw them go through (turns) one and two and after I got by a lapped car, I said, ‘Oh, my God, they're Penskes. I'm going behind Penskes right now. This is crazy.’
“To me, as a kid, I used to always watch. I just could only dream of it. Every time through practice, every time they passed me, I always let them by. Man.
“It's definitely special to me. I was trying so hard to not get nervous. I mean, I was nervous, but I was trying so hard not to get overexcited and do something stupid. Yeah, it's definitely intimidating when there's two Penskes in front of you.”
David Malukas had all kinds of reasons to smile after finishing a surprising runner-up in Saturday's Bommarito Auto Group 500 at WorldWide Technology Raceway near St. Louis. If he had maybe a couple more laps, Malukas might have caught and passed Josef Newgarden for the win. Photo courtesy IndyCar / Joe Skibinski.
When asked if he thinks he could have passed Newgarden for the lead if he had one extra lap, Malukas said he wasn’t sure.
“Maybe, maybe not,” Malukas said. “I don't know. It's tough. (Newgarden) had lapped traffic (ahead). That's the only reason why I could get to McLaughlin and Newgarden.
“Yeah, maybe a bit of a chance. Definitely would have done some stupid thing to get really close to him. It's not like they were slow. They were really quick. It would have been interesting.”
The NTT IndyCar Series now takes a week off before heading to the Pacific Northwest for the penultimate race of the season, the Grand Prix of Portland on September 4. After that is the season-ending and championship-deciding race on September 11 at Laguna Seca in Monterey, California.
